ATLANTA (CDC) -- Neisseria gonorrhoeae (QRNG) is an important cause of pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, and infertility, and can facilitate HIV transmission.

Gonorrhea is the second most frequently reported communicable disease in the United States, with 361,705 reported cases in 2001. This report summarizes investigations of increases in QRNG in Hawaii and California in 2001, and provides data to support the recommendation that fluoroquinolones should no longer be used as first-line gonorrhea treatment for infections acquired in these two states. While only sporadic cases of QRNG have been reported in other states, researchers note that there is risk of QRNG spreading throughout the United States.

The article reminds clinicians throughout the U.S. to obtain a travel history of all patients suspected to have gonorrhea and to use cephalosporins, not fluoroquinolones, as treatment for gonorrhea acquired in Asia, Hawaii, and California.